Brooke Ence's Strategies & Tips for the CrossFit® Open 18.1 Workout

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The CrossFit Open is here once again. And just like that, it's time to bring your a-game each week for the chance to make it to regionals. Since the release of the 18.1 workout probably has you a bit flustered, we know it may not always be the easiest to think of the best possible way to execute each and every exercise in the crazy workout Dave Castro came up with. With that being said, we asked Brooke Ence for her expert strategies and tips for 18.1 so that you can perform your absolute best this year!

Tip #1

Brooke's first tip is for the "8 toes-to-bars" portion of the workout. During this portion of the workout it is important to remember that it is a pushing and pulling movement that needs to happen through your shoulder joint and through your midline. Her advice is to think about pushing the pull up bar to your toes. She also mentions breaking up your reps early to make it through the 20 minutes.

Tip #2

Brooke's next tip is for the "10 Dumbbell Hang Clean & Jerks." Brooke mentioned that during this movement it is important to remember to switch your hands below your face on the transition and to have your opposite hand ready for the transition right at your chest. She also mentioned that it is important to keep the dumbbell as close to the body as possible to keep the momentum.

Tip #3

Brooke's next tip is for the third portion of the workout, "14/12 Calories Rowed on a Concept 2 Rower (men/women)." Her advice is to quickly strap your feet into the rower and then to use your chest to bring the paddle as close to the front of the rower as possible to generate pull power. Her advice during the transition of this movement and into the next rep is to end the row with a big pull in, and then return as quickly as possible bringing your arms in first and then exiting the rower with your feet. This will allow you to jump right into the toes-to-bars for your next rep.

Tip #4

Brooke's last tip for 18.1 is to set your rower and dumbells close to your pull up bar so that there is very little time wasted between each rep. Keeping transition time to a minimum will allow you to get in as many reps as possible as quickly as possible.